Locked socket wrench

ABSTRACT

There is disclosed a hand tool apparatus comprising a locking nut having a radial circular wall in which the inner face thereof is threaded, the nut being open at one end and closed at the opposite end by a wall having a central opening therein which receives a square shaft that is fixedly pinned to a wrench handle. The nut is rotatably secured about the shaft by means of a retainer ring that is received in an annular groove about the lower end of the shaft. Various sized socket fittings having external threads at their lower ends are threadably attached within the locking nut and are held from rotation by the shaft which is received within a central bore of the socket.

Nielsen 1 June 12, 1973 LOCKED SOCKET WRENCH [76] Inventor: Robert J Nielsen, 1412 Hillside Drive, Glendale, Calif. 91208 [22] Filed: July 12, 1971 21 Appl. No.: 161,727

[52] US. Cl 81/121 B [51] Int. Cl..... B25b 13/06 [58] Field of Search 81/121 R, 121 B,

81/57.5, 58,177 R, 177 B, 177 G, 177 ST, 177 PP, 177 N; 145/50 B; 287/5205 Primary Examiner0thell M. Simpson Assistant Examiner.lames G. Smith Attorney-Francis X. Lo .lacono, Sr.

[57] ABSTRACT There is disclosed a hand tool apparatus comprising a locking nut having a radial circular wall in which the inner face thereof is threaded, the nut being open at one end and closed at the opposite end by a wall having a central opening therein which receives a square shaft that is fixedly pinned to a wrench handle. The nut is rotatably secured about the shaft by means of a retainer ring that is received in an annular groove about the lower end of the shaft. Various sized socket fittings having external threads at their lower ends are threadably attached within the locking nut and are held from rotation by the shaft which is received within a central bore of the socket.

4 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures LOCKED SOCKET WRENCH BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates, generally, to a socket wrench hand tool and relates, more particularly, to a socket wrench hand tool adapted for positive reception of various sized sockets to prevent the separation thereof from the wrench handle.

2. Description of the Prior Art There are various kinds of socket wrench hand tools and some of these are the type in which the socket portion thereof cannot be changed. Therefore, these require separate and complete assemblies for each size socket. Another well-known type of socket wrench is that variety having separate sockets for various sizes which can be changed readily with a single handle. However, common socket wrenchunits have a problem of becoming separated from the drive handle during use, particularly when a pulling force is applied while the wrench is being used. This results in the socket or other parts, such as universal joint adapters, extensions, and the like,being lost or left in unretrievable areas, to later cause malfunctions in such complicated'device's as airplanes, automobiles, space vehicles, electrical junction boxes, etc. Therefore, the safety features of the common socket wrench leave a lot to be desired.

SUMMARY; OF THE INVENTION The invention comprises a locking nut 'movab'ly secured to a wrench handle by means of a retainer ring clipped to a square shaft which is fixedly secured'to one end of the wrench handle. The locking nut has an 'enlarged bore adapted with internal threads for threadably securing various sockets and'wrench components as required for aparticular job. Thesockets will be provided at their lower ends with matching external threads so as to be threadably secured to the locking nut. The socket is placed on the square shaft by means of a square bore within the lower central portion'ofthe socket which is thereby locked from rotational movement relative to the handle.'When the locking nut is rotated about an annular :groove of the shaft,'which also OBJECTS ANDLADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the invention to provide a socket wrench tool having means for retaining sockets and other component parts in a positive secured relation with respect to the wrench'handle.

It is another object of the invention to -provide'a socket wrench of this character wherein the tool can be used in restricted areas of complicated devices such as airplanes, automobiles, space vehicles, and'the like, without fear of loss of any part of thetool.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a socket wrench tool wherein various sized sockets can mechanically remain assembled, whetherthere is a pushing or a pulling force applied byan-operator thereof.

invention can be more readily appreciated from the following description and appended claims. When taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, this description forms a part of the specification wherein like references and characters designate corresponding parts in several views.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Referring more particularly to the accompanying drawings, which are for illustrative purposes only:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view taken on line 22 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 3 is a partial top plan view of the invention with a typical socket positioned thereon; and

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 44 of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings, there is shown a socket wrench hand tool, or apparatus, generally indicated at 10, having an elongated handle 12, one end of which is provided with'a circular, enlarged body 14, said body being provided with a square aperture 16 which is centrally disposed therein. A square post or shaft 18 is fixedly secured in the aperture 16 by spring pin 20 which 'is' force fitted within aligned bores 22 and 24, respectively, of the enlarged 'body 14 and the lower end of the shaft 18 which snugly fits said aperture 16. There is also provided an annular groove 26 aboutthe peripheralwzills'of shaft 18 adjacent one face of said enlarged body 14.

A locking nut, generally indicated at 30, is removably mounted to said handle 12, said locking nut comprising anannular wall '32, the outer face of which is knurled, and the inner :portion of the wall being threaded throughout its length at 34 in which one end is opened and theopp'osite end thereof is provided with a bottom wall 36"having'a central aperture 38 therein. Said aper- -'tu're '38 has a diameter large enough to allow the shaft 18 to freely pass therethrough whereby said locking nut can rotate about said shaft. The locking nut 30 is removably and rotatablymounted to said handle '12, as mentioned above, by a securing means shown as a retainer ring 40 which is snapped into place about the groove 26 of the shaft 18 and adjacent the bottom wall 36 of the lock nut 30. It can be readily seen that by securing locking nut 30 in this manner said nut is free for rotation when there is threading of a component part, such asasocket 42, within its threaded recess.

It is contemplated that various sized sockets will be used as well as extension arms and universal joints. Therefore, an illustration of one socket will be sufficient to make clear the operation of the invention.

The socket 42 can be made from bar-stock steel in which square and hexagonal holes are drilled, as seen in FIGS. 2 and 3.

The lower part of the socket 42 is adapted to receive the upper square portion of the shaft 18 by means of a central bore 44 having a matching square configuration of said shaft 18. Hence, when the socket is to be secured to the handle 12, said socket is placed in adjoining relationship with the lock nut, the lower end of said socket, or like components, having external threads 46, at which time the lock nut 30 is rotated, drawing both parts together. Said socket is held from rotation by the shaft 18 which is at that time received within the bore 44. Socket 42 is also provided in its upper half with an enlarged bore 48 having a configuration of the corresponding head of a bolt or nut to which it is to be placed thereon. For illustrative purposes, however, the bore 46 is shown as having a hexagonal configuration.

Since the socket 42 is directly attached to said shaft 18 which, in turn, is fixedly secured to said handle, positive torque can be applied in either a clockwise or counterclockwise rotation without separating the socket from said lock nut 30.

The invention and its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts of the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof or sacrificing its material advantages, the arrangement hereinbefore described being merely by way of example, and I do not wish to be restricted to the specific form shown or uses mentioned except as defined in the accompanying claims.

I claim:

1. A socket wrench hand tool in combination, com- 4 prising:

A. an elongated handle having an enlarged body at one end thereof, said enlarged body having an aperture centrally disposed therein;

B. a shaft having at least one flat side thereon and an annular groove disposed therein, said shaft being fixedly secured in said aperture of said enlarged body with said annular groove adjacent one face of said enlarged body;

C. a locking nut being removably secured about said shaft, said nut having an internally-threaded, annular wall and a bottom wall provided with a central aperture for receiving said shaft therethrough; and

D. securing means for removably securing said locking nut about said shaft, said means being adapted to be received in said annular groove of said shaft.

2. A socket wrench hand tool as recited in claim 1, wherein said securing means comprises a retainer ring.

3. A socket wrench hand tool as recited in claim 2, including at least one socket having external threads provided on its lower end for threadable engagement with said internal threads of said locking nut and a square bore centrally positioned therein to receive said shaft, whereby said socket is prevented from rotating, relative to said handle.

4. A socket wrench hand tool as recited in claim 3, wherein said enlarged body of said handle includes means for removably securing said shaft in said aperture of said body, said means being accommodated within a pair of aligned bores disposed within said enlarged body. 

1. A socket wrench hand tool in combination, comprising: A. an elongated handle having an enlarged body at one end thereof, said enlarged body having an aperture centrally disposed therein; B. a shaft having at least one flat side thereon and an annular groove disposed therein, said shaft being fixedly secured in said aperture of said enlarged body with said annular groove adjacent one face of said enlarged body; C. a locking nut being removably secured about said shaft, said nut having an internally-threaded, annular wall and a bottom wall provided with a central aperture for receiving said shaft therethrough; and D. securing means for removably securing said locking nut about said shaft, said means being adapted to be received in said annular groove of said shaft.
 2. A socket wrench hand tool as recited in claim 1, wherein said securing means comprises a retainer ring.
 3. A socket wrench hand tool as recited in claim 2, including at least one socket having external threads provided on its lower end for threadable engagement with said internal threads of said locking nut and a square bore centrally positioned therein to receive said shaft, whereby said socket is prevented from rotating, relative to said handle.
 4. A socket wrench hand tool as recited in claim 3, wherein said enlarged body of said handle includes means for removably securing said shaft in said aperture of said body, said means being accommodated within a pair of aligned bores disposed within said enlarged body. 